According to Miss Info, this is from Cam’s new album, Crime Pays, out May 5. No download, just this YouTube stream. eskay says it’s on a mixtape you can get here.

Cam keeps saying there will be no Dipset reunion. I have my doubts, no matter how much he insists it won’t happen. I wonder if he’ll fall out of the spotlight if people start to believe that. People my age and older (21+) will always have a spot for Killa, but I don’t think many kids younger than 21 are Cam stans like that. Either way, I hope he sticks around, there aren’t many more people who are more entertaining in hip-hop.

Next to the Drake mixtape, this is probably the most anticipated album to be released so far this year (in our lil hip-hop world). Yes, it is an album, and a big thank-you is in order for U-N-I for not delaying the release, causing comment sections on hip-hop blogs to crash. I would recommend checking this out if for no other reason than U-N-I are good people (had the pleasure of meeting them at SXSW), and I know a lot of work went into this.

That’s the latest word out of Fresh Selects. St Louis rapper/producer Black Spade is claiming he produced the beat on Charles Hamilton’s track “Shinin,” and that Charles stole it from him. It came to Spade’s attention after a performance at SXSW, where he confronted Charles about it… and Charles denied it. Black Spade went fishing in his archives for proof and he sent the following email to Fresh Selects:

“Yo!
So this is the beat Charles Hamilton CLAIMS he created. In short, when I was in Austin to perform and check out SxSW, I caught his set. He performed one of his tracks, ‘Shinin,’ which I thought was dope. However, come to find out the instrumental that he used for that track is a beat I produced a while back. After he was done performing, I let him know that I produced the beat and asked him where he got it from. In the back of my mind I know that the only place he really could have gotten it from was off my MySpace page. When I told him I produced the track and liked his lyrics, he still continued to say that HE produced the track with some dude….FALSE. He said he cleared the sample and that he is the one singing ‘Shinin’ in the background and also that his homeboy was playing the keys on the track.

Now mind you, the background ‘Shinin’ vocals that he claims he laid were not laid in the studio at all. I know this because I sampled them by singing directly into the MPC.

Basically, the Frankie Beverly & Maze sample at the beginning is from when I put the beat up on MySpace. The whole point of putting that part in the track was to show that I was about to produce, from that part, my own version of the sample. So, if you don’t hear the Frankie Beverly & Maze sample in the MP3 I am sending you, that is why.

Peace,
Black Spade aka Stoney Rock”

If you’re interested, Fresh Selects has a side-by-side comparison of the song and Black Spades’ beat. Charles responded to the accusations and said he has the Pro Tools session to back him up, and Fresh Selects updated everyone on the situation, but we’ve still seen no real proof from Charles end…

K-The-I??? is interesting. I’ll be up front with you to say I’ve never really been a fan, but I respect where he’s coming from and “his struggle,” especially the one he describes in this interview. There seems to be a theme this week of rappers from Boston who have been unable to capitalize on their careers in the city, and they move elsewhere and things start taking off for them.

This all got me thinking, why Boston? What’s wrong with it? The conclusion I came to is a simple one…

After seeing Exile a lot last week, I don’t think I’ve seen a producer/DJ create the auditory explosion he does, while making it look so effortless. With some of the stuff he does, I’m expecting to look up and see a guy flailing his arms in a crack-head rage. Instead, you see Exile calmly making it look easy. Kind of like he’s doing here with DJ Day.

I like the way the recorded version of this song turned out. I don’t know if GLC will stick, but he got a good video out of it, and at least the aesthetics match the vibe of the song. I was kinda waiting for something dramatic to happen the whole video though.

Old Money hit me up with this just in time for the weekend. It’s a mix they assembled after coming to the realization that there’s nothing new under the sun, but also that inspiration in black music hasn’t changed so much over time, and that black musicians looking to outer space and “Other Planes of There” is the common thread in it all. Note: Old Money referenced the article I linked there, they deserve all the credit for these existential musings. I’m merely repeating what they told me.

If you were wondering, Writer’s Block is:

“Writers Block is a Cultural/Arts Movement based in NYC, whose core objective is to expose the general public to a higher quality of Art and Entertainment. For more info, check out this video (HIGHLY recommended viewing), filmed by The New Pop.”

This is a little bit late but it’s still funny as hell. Pharrell’s in a Mcdonalds in Paris, also know as Macdough for some reason… I guess it’s a french thing. But anywho, I think Micky D’s should pick this up and make it the new ad. I like the singing fish and all, but singing Pharrell is pretty funny too.